Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7412093 | Critical Perspectives on Accounting | 2018 | 20 Pages |
Abstract
The governable worker, in Britain, is defined by the existing literature as a creation of the scientific management movement of the early twentieth century and, within the accounting domain, through standard costing as a disciplinary practice. This paper studies actions taken by the administrators and managers of Britain's government military manufacturing establishments (GMMEs), from the 1850s onwards, to create a more governable workforce. This objective was achieved through the imposition of disciplinary practices, most importantly the use of time records to ensure attendance at the workplace and expert knowledge-based piece rates to monitor and control labour intensity. The absence of scientifically-established labour standards at GMMEs is acknowledged but, in other important respects, accounting is shown to have played a key role in the formulation of disciplinary practices designed to construct a governable labour force some decades before standard costing became the mechanism for rendering visible efficiency within the workplace.
Keywords
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities
Business, Management and Accounting
Accounting
Authors
John Richard Edwards,